Lt. Col. Leo R. Gray had made significant contributions
to the warfare of this country throughout his military and civilian careers.
Soon after high school graduation, Lieutenant Colonel Gray joined the Army
Air Corps and began his aviation cadet training in 1943.

Little more than
a year later he graduated from the Tuskegee Army Air field as a Second Lieutenant,
single engine pilot. The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of
African American pilots who fought in World War II and “Shattered
The Myth.” Formally, they were the 332nd Fighter
Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army
Air Corps.

While stationed in Italy as a fighter pilot, Gray
flew 15 combat missions in P-51s for a total of 750 hours flying time.
He left active duty in 1946, but remained in the USAF Reserves until 1984.

During his 41 years of
military service, Lieutenant Colonel Gray earned a Coveted Air
Medal with one Oak Leaf cluster and a Presidential Unit
Citation.

Gray earned a Bachelor's
degree from the University of Massachusetts in 1950, a
Masters degree from the University of Nebraska in 1952,
and did post graduate work at the University of Maryland
from 1962-1964. He began his 30 year career with USDA in
1953 as a Technical Assistant at the University of
Massachusetts, Agricultural Extension Service.

Gray wore many hats in the
USDA career. Gray served as an agricultural economist with
the Economic Research Service, an economist with APHIS in
California, and as Director, Program Planning Office of the
Food Safety & Inspection Service to mention a few.

In addition,
he was an economic consultant to United States Department of
Agriculture in West Africa. (Tuskegee Airmen, display a poster
of the HBO movie
Lt. Leo Gray
third from the left).

Gray's
professional and civic life reflects his deep commitments to the
Tuskegee Airmen, to agricultural economic research
organizations, and to civil rights.

Gray is a member of the
Tuskegee Airmen Inc, and in 1991 became founder and president of
the Miami Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.

Gray is the past president,
vice president and treasurer of the East Coast Chapter of
Tuskegee Airmen, the founder and past president of the Forum on
Blacks in Agriculture, the past president of Good Hope East
Civic Association in Silver Springs, MD and a former member of
the Richmond, California, Model Neighborhood Citizens Board.

Other memberships include the
Air Force Association, the Retired Officers Association, and
the NAACP. Lieutenant Colonel Gray has traveled extensively
the North, Central and South America, and Europe, Africa,
Asia and Australia. A widower, Lieutenant Colonel Gray has
six children and ten grandchildren.

A Narrative Of The Tuskegee
Airmen

This is by no means a complete
story. Read of the difficulties becoming a Tuskegee
Airmen, their role and contributions made toward the war
effort in World War II. Read some of their stories and
how discrimination played a major role.